


down in the basement

by realdefonge



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Buzzfeed Unsolved References, Halloween Special, M/M, Ongniel, Pining, Romance, crackish, mr. lee saves us all from the drought, things go down in the basement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 10:30:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21297992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realdefonge/pseuds/realdefonge
Summary: Seongwu and Daniel often do stupid things together when they're drunk.Going to an abandoned house on Halloween night just to make a parody of Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural is one of those things.
Relationships: Kang Daniel/Ong Seongwu
Comments: 15
Kudos: 69





	down in the basement

**Author's Note:**

> \- my very late Halloween gift  
\- this is actually me experimenting with a somehow different writing style so please bear with my mess  
\- too sleepy to edit properly so I'll check for any mistakes tomorrow  
\- ONGNIEL IS SCIENCE!!!  
\- please enjoy

Seongwu and Daniel often do stupid things together when they’re drunk. In fact, simply getting drunk without doing anything stupid would be even more surprising. Anyone familiar with the two of them would know that they’re a force to reckon with when they’re together.

Individually, Seongwu and Daniel are reputable students in the Physics Department—with Seongwu being the top student among the seniors and Daniel among the juniors. Seongwu is also the president of the student council while Daniel is the captain of the baseball team.

But God forbid, when they’re together, it’s like _“their respective IQs plummet to the ground and they start acting like carefree five-year-olds and they expect their friends to tolerate their shit—and we do, but that’s mainly because we’ve gotten tired of dealing with their shenanigans”_ (Kim Jaehwan, 2019).

Their friends and peers are thankful, at the very least, that Seongwu and Daniel only cause mischief off-campus. Also, their deeds are mostly harmless stuff that only their closest friends would ever know about.

This time, though, in the middle of their drinking session at Minhyun’s place during Halloween night, the latter somehow mentions something about an abandoned house a couple of blocks away, and that it is rumored to be haunted. Seongwu’s ears perk up, face lit with excitement as he turns to Daniel, who raises an eyebrow in confusion.

“Niel,” Seongwu begins as he scoots closer towards Daniel. “Remember when I told you I’ve always wanted us to do a parody of Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural because when we watch their videos, I always relate to Shane’s skepticism while you simultaneously yell _ ‘ghost!’ _ with Ryan at the slightest creaking sounds?”

Daniel gives him a slandered look. “Hey, some of those creaking sounds can’t be explained by science!” 

Seongwu tries to suppress a chuckle but fails. Daniel always goes on defensive mode when he talks about supernatural stuff, and it’s childish but that’s exactly why Seongwu finds it cute. 

“I’m not judging,” Seongwu raises his arms in the air as he says this. “You have your own beliefs and I have mine. But don’t you think this is a great opportunity to prove which one of us is right? If we manage to catch any ghostly activities on camera, then maybe, just _ maybe _, I’d finally believe in the existence of the supernatural.”

Seongwu is lying, for he’s actually just trying to convince Daniel to play along with his game. No amount of evidence could make him believe in the existence of unworldly beings, especially in this era where videos, images, or any form of media could easily be tampered with. 

But Daniel, despite being a Physics major, believes in the paranormal—in the existence of forces beyond scientific understanding. He’s probably one of the very few students in their department to believe in such things, but what makes him so rare is that he’s a top student, yet he insists that not everything is caused by the laws of nature. 

That’s what Seongwu finds odd about his underclassman, but he still likes Daniel anyway. If there’s a phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of nature, then it would probably be their friendship. Seongwu and Daniel have contrasting beliefs and personalities, yet they get along so well that it’s hard to pinpoint where the chemistry is coming from. 

Seongwu’s the type to dwell on his relationships with people—to figure out why he likes spending time with the people that he often hangs out with. But with Daniel, he gave up on such trivial thoughts. 

He simply came to accept the fact that he likes having Daniel around, that he enjoys his company, that he feels funny when the younger laughs at his jokes that none of his friends find amusing, that he feels extra beautiful whenever Daniel looks at him (even though he’s already aware of his godly visuals), and that he’s willing to lose brain cells just to goof around with Daniel and laugh about it afterwards. 

And so as much as Seongwu enjoys being friends with Daniel, a huge part of him can’t help but hope for more. They’re already past the senior-junior phase, with Daniel finally addressing him as _hyung_ instead of _sunbae_, and Seongwu is hoping that they could also move on from their current phase and be more than just close friends. 

Seongwu is planning to take the first step by confessing. It’s a huge risk, and it’s probable that Daniel doesn’t feel the same and his confession could ruin their friendship, but Seongwu has already made up his mind. _ “It’s all or nothing,” _ he told himself over and over again as he made the decision.

The ghost hunting escapade could be his chance, so Seongwu wasted no time and grabbed the opportunity. With just the two of them in an abandoned house, and with the courage bestowed upon him by the alcohol, Seongwu could finally reveal his feelings to Daniel and get things over with. Now, if only Daniel would agree—

“Fine, let’s do it, hyung!” Daniel suddenly blurts out with a determined look on his face. He grabs his beer glass from the table and chugs the remaining drink down. He chugged the beer so fast that trickles of it dripped from the corner of his lips to his Adam’s apple.

_ “That is fuckin’ sexy,” _ Seongwu notes to himself as he grabs his own beer glass to empty the contents. He blinks and gulps repeatedly while Daniel wipes the liquid off his lips and neck, and when the younger looks up at him, Seongwu quickly averts his gaze and focuses on the ceiling instead, pretending like he’s admiring Minhyun’s chandelier (to be fair, the elegant, expensive-looking chandelier is worthy of anyone’s admiration).

“In case you didn’t hear,” Sungwoon, who’s right beside Seongwu, says as he nudges his arm. “Daniel said he’ll do it. Personally, I would like to see the end result of this ghost hunting. Make sure to document everything, okay?”

“Yeah. It’s bound to be chaotic for sure, and it could serve as good payback material in case Daniel decides to leak that video of me giving Jaehwan a lap dance,” Minhyun adds with a straight face, even though his hands were already balled into fists.

Jaehwan laughs at that as he wraps an arm around Minhyun’s shoulder. “Hyung, don’t worry. I already deleted the video from Daniel’s phone after that night—after saving a copy for myself, of course.”

Minhyun just closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, causing Jaehwan to laugh even louder.

Seongwu sighs in his seat. After finally recovering from his momentary loss of sanity, he looks back at Daniel and forces out a smug grin. “Great! Let’s go, then!”

He then gets up from his seat and Daniel follows. Jisung glances up at them and breathes out heavily. “Is there anything I can do to stop the two of you?”

“As usual,” Seongwu shrugs. “Nothing.”

Jisung nods and waves his hand dismissively. “Go on now, then. We’ll just collect your bodies in the morning,”

* * *

Seongwu did not expect the abandoned house to be this…_abandoned_. In order to enter the dilapidated property, you'd have to walk through the tall grass and bushes surrounding it. 

“Getting bitten by snakes is more probable than seeing ghosts at this point,” Seongwu mumbles. He sees Daniel nodding in agreement from the corner of his eye, and for a second he thought the younger would back out.

Instead, Daniel stretches his arms and jumps in place, like he’s preparing for a marathon. “We’re already here so let’s just do it, hyung!”

Seongwu gives him a surprised look. “Look, there’s bound to be hordes of insects in that lawn, and you’d have to go through that in order to reach the deteriorating house, which could be filled with—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—_ ghosts _, which means you’d probably encounter the top two things that scare you the most, yet you’re still going?”

Beads of sweat are already forming on his forehead, but Daniel still manages to flash Seongwu a smile. “If we run really fast, we can avoid the insects. Hopefully. And besides, the point of ghost hunting is to see ghosts! I haven’t seen one, and I hope I can remain calm when I see one tonight, but once you do, you’d finally believe in the paranormal.”

Seongwu gives him an amused chuckle. “Are you that desperate to prove the existence of ghosts to me?”

Instead of answering, Daniel just stares at him—the kind of stare that takes Seongwu’s breath away every damn time, the same stare that made Seongwu fall for the underclassman.

“Yes,” Daniel replies after a while, which snaps Seongwu back into reality at the same time. “It’s one of the reasons,”

Seongwu raises an eyebrow. “What are the _other_ reasons?”

Daniel grins at him teasingly before craning forward to eye the house. “Let’s make a run for it in three…two...”

“Wait—”

Before he could say three, Daniel already made a sprint across the lawn as if his life depended on it. Seongwu has never seen him run that fast before, but he has no time to be amused.

He quickly runs after Daniel. The sound of the younger’s laughter mixed with terrified shrieks allow Seongwu to ignore the feeling of the tall grass brushing against his bare legs (he’s partly at fault for wearing shorts, anyway). He just follows that sound and laughs along. Together, they fill the quiet neighborhood with their laughter like they’re the only people there (well, technically, they are, because the abandoned house is the only property in that street).

As he stares at Daniel’s wide back in front of him, Seongwu heaves out a satisfied sigh. Being with Daniel makes him forget everything else around him, and he likes that feeling a lot.

* * *

“Hey there, demons! It’s me, ya boy!” Seongwu snorts as he tries to imitate Shane while Daniel films him. They somehow made it inside the house unscathed, and now they’re currently walking around the living room. “Well, it doesn’t look so bad inside, huh?”

Daniel keeps his eyes on his phone which is used to film Seongwu, and the latter notices the younger’s hands trembling. “You’ve got to be kidding, hyung. This place is what nightmares are made of.”

Seongwu turns on his phone’s torch and points it to the walls, then to the ceiling, then to Daniel who quickly squints his eyes at the sudden flash of light. “There’s nothing much here, really. Just a few cobwebs here and there, some dusty furniture, vandals on the wall that read _ ‘They’re always watching’ _ and _ ‘They’re coming for you’ _and—”

“Hyung!” Daniel whines before Seongwu could continue. Seongwu is tempted to tease him some more and get another cute reaction out of him, but he doesn’t want to traumatize Daniel so he fights the temptation away.

“Fine, fine,” Seongwu raises his arms in resignation as he continues to walk around with Daniel filming him. “Hey, we should both appear onscreen since it’s a parody of Buzzfeed Unsolved. You’re supposed to be _my_ Ryan,”

Seongwu bites his lip at the last sentence and wonders if it sounded suggestive or what. He takes a quick glance at Daniel, and the latter just shoots him a grin as he moves closer until their shoulders were touching. Then he switches the camera to its front mode and positions it in front of them so they could both be seen. “Is this better, _Shane_?”

Seongwu flinches at the sudden contact but immediately conceals it with a chuckle. He playfully elbows Daniel’s side and shakes his head. “Stop that. Let’s just get down to business.”

With Daniel holding the camera, they proceed to the staircase where they find the doorway towards the basement, which is said to be the most haunted area of the house.

“In 1987, police found the remains of the entire Lee family in this basement. They were murdered by an unknown hitman,” Daniel suddenly takes a stand beside the door and recounts the events as told by Minhyun. He’s really doing his part as Ryan, which bewilders and amuses Seongwu at the same time. “No one knows the motives behind the murder, and up to this day, this case remains as one of the biggest mysteries in the city.”

Seongwu tries to stifle a chuckle and fails, earning him a glare from Daniel. He mouths the word_ ‘sorry’ _ and prompts the younger to continue.

“It is said that the ghostly apparition of the head of the household, Mr. Lee, is the most common sighting in this area,” Daniel continues. “But on top of that, Mr. Lee’s spirit is said to be the most violent, often inflicting pain upon those who dare to touch his most prized possession, his bicycle, which can be found in the basement.”

Seongwu forgot that part in Minhyun’s narrative, and he can’t help but snort at that specific detail. “A bicycle? Really?”

Daniel just shrugs. “Must be an heirloom or something,”

Seongwu decides to go along with that possibility. “Okay, so now we’re gonna go down to explore the basement and get our hands on that bicycle, right? Or else what’s the point?”

He was about to put his hand on the doorknob when Daniel suddenly screams, “Hyung, no! What do you think you’re doing?”

Seongwu stops, his hand hovering above the doorknob as he gives Daniel a _ ‘duh’ _ look. “Uhh, gonna go inside this haunted basement, touch the bicycle, and possibly capture Mr. Lee’s vengeful spirit on camera?”

“That’s dangerous!” Daniel exclaims, looking terrified. “Besides, there are no windows down there so it’s completely dark, and the house hasn’t been maintained for decades! You could get injured,”

“That’s what flashlights are for,” Seongwu says as he waves his phone in front of Daniel. “And this is what we came here for in the first place. If you’re scared, I’m just gonna go down by myself and let you know if I encounter Mr. Lee or anyone from the Lee household,”

“Hyung, I’m serious!”

Seongwu just sticks out his tongue as he completely turns the knob. The door slowly creaks open, revealing nothing but darkness down below. “And so am I.”

“Hyung—”

Before Daniel could complain any further, Seongwu quickly takes the phone from his hand and enters the basement without warning. With the flashlight on his left hand and the camera on the other, he slowly and carefully makes his descent.

“I am going down the basement where the Lee family’s ghosts are said to manifest,” Seongwu narrates. “I will try to search for the bicycle and—_ ahh _! What the fuck—” He yelps at the sudden pain in his foot, but as he bends to take a look at it, he loses his balance and almost falls down the staircase, if not for the hand tightly wrapped around his waist. 

He looks up and finds Daniel scowling at him. “See? I told you it’s dangerous!”

Seongwu is at a loss for words at the sudden turn of events. The sharp pain in his foot is still there, but he is more occupied by the feeling of Daniel’s arm on his waist. “I’m sorr—” 

His attempt at apologizing got interrupted by the sound of the basement door slamming shut. They both wince, and the scowl on Daniel’s face turns into a look of absolute terror. “W-What was that?”

“The wind! That was just the wind. The weather forecast this morning said there would be a storm tonight,” Seongwu says in consolation, and he wasn't completely lying since the forecast did say there was a chance of rain. “Anyway, you can, uhh, let me go now. We’re only a few steps from the ground anyway,”

Daniel still seems terrified, but he slowly lets go of Seongwu and assists him down the remaining steps. They go to the corner of the basement, where Daniel helps him sit against the wall. The younger takes the flashlight from him and examines his injured foot. 

“Hyung, you’ve got a splinter,” Daniel says, face now filled with worry. “It’s lodged in so deep, too. I won’t be able to pull it out. You need to go to the hospital.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m gonna die from that,” Seongwu chuckles, which dies down when Daniel scowls at him again. “Okay, I’m sorry for being reckless. Don’t be so mad,”

“I’m not mad at you,” Daniel huffs as he looks away from Seongwu and focuses on his foot. “I’m mad at this…piece of wood stuck in your foot. You could get infected if it’s not removed as soon as possible!”

“Sheesh, calm down.” Seongwu raises Daniel’s phone up and exits the camera. Then he proceeds to give Jisung a call. The call got picked up after a few rings. “Hyung? It’s Seongwu. Yeah, you can collect our bodies now. No, we’re still alive and breathing, just got a few scratches, that’s all. What? No, we weren’t doing anything dangerous! Hahaha…._ha_…anyway, you can scold me later. Thanks, hyung!”

“Let me guess,” Daniel says after a few seconds of silence from Seongwu. “You’re more scared of Jisung-hyung now than the possibility of getting infected,”

Seongwu gives the younger a half-smirk. “You know me so well.” He stares at Daniel for a while, then he suddenly got tempted to tease the younger again so he asks the question, “Why did you follow me when you’re so afraid of this basement?”

Daniel stares back at him, looking as if he’s just heard the most ridiculous question ever. “I’m afraid of the dark, of ghosts, of insects—but I’m more afraid of you getting hurt, hyung.”

No amount of alcohol could prepare Seongwu for that statement, and what’s worse is that he has already sobered up by now. His heart is beating too fast that Daniel would probably hear it if he inches closer, but despite that, Seongwu still manages to ask the follow-up question, “Why?”

“_ Why _?” Daniel lowers his head and scratches his nape. With only Seongwu’s phone torch illuminating the room, they can’t really see each other clearly. Still, the reddening of Daniel’s ears did not escape Seongwu’s eyes. “I can’t believe I’m gonna say it here but I guess it’s now or never,”

“Say what?” The pounding in Seongwu’s chest is getting louder. He _ thinks _ he already knows what Daniel is trying to point out, but he doesn’t want to jump to that conclusion yet and make a fool of himself. He wants to hear it loud and clear. 

“Hyung, there are reasons why I always go along with your drunken plans, no matter how outrageous they are,” Daniel begins. “_ One _ : I like being with you. _ Two _ : I find it hard to say no to you. _ Three _: I want to be there in case you get into danger.” He glances at Seongwu’s foot to make a point, and the older grunts but makes no attempt to protest, but that’s mainly because he’s too stumped to say anything. 

When Daniel suddenly moves beside him, Seongwu gets tempted to scoot away, afraid that his heartbeat would be heard, but he remains in his place and mentally sings, _“♪ Que_ _será, __será.__ Whatever will be, will be." _

Seongwu wants to laugh at himself for sounding shaky and off-tune due to nerves even though he’s just singing in his head, but he has no time for that because Daniel continues. “Anyway, if I add them all up along with a thousand other reasons, I could only arrive at one conclusion.” Daniel looks at him, and by some kind of force, Seongwu tilts his head and gets trapped in the younger’s gaze. 

“The conclusion is: I am completely, utterly in-love with you, Ong Seongwu.”

Seongwu’s eyes widen as he gasps at the confession. All those dreadful what ifs—what if his feelings are one-sided, what if Daniel doesn’t swing that way, what if Daniel completely removes him from his life once he confesses—all those possibilities that Seongwu had cooked up can now be thrown away. Seongwu wasn’t really expecting them to be thrown away _ this _ soon (although he was supposed to confess today), so he can’t help but gasp.

“Hyung…?” Daniel snaps his fingers in front of Seongwu who’s still in a trance. “Was my confession too revolting that it made you go nuts?”

Seongwu shakes his head, then slaps his palms against his cheeks with a loud smack, causing Daniel to jump in shock. 

“Hyung!” Daniel cries out as he takes Seongwu’s palms away from his face. "Did you really dislike my confession that much?”

“Nonsense!” Seongwu bellows, his voice echoing through the room, making Daniel flinch. “Your confession! I like it! Very much!”

Seongwu shuts his eyes in shame, because apparently, he’s too caught up by his emotions that he can’t even talk properly. Being in-love is making him lose his brain cells. 

“I mean…I…also…damn.” Seongwu pauses for a while to gather his thoughts and recover his lost brain cells, then he continues. “I’ve been in-love with you Daniel, for quite some time now, actually. And I asked you to do this ghost hunting with me because…I wanted to confess. But you beat me to it, so….”

Now Daniel is the one who’s stumped. “So…” He leans back against the wall and makes some weird motions with his hands, like he’s trying to put two and two together. “I love you, you love me,”

_"♪ We’re a happy family_,_" _ Seongwu sings Barney’s theme song to lighten the mood, which makes him feel stupid afterwards, but Daniel laughs anyway so he ends up laughing, too.

All of a sudden, Daniel turns to him and scoots closer, then he sings as he wraps his arm around Seongwu’s waist, just like what he did earlier. _ “♪ With a great big hug— _”

Daniel is only a breath away, and even though Seongwu never expected things to escalate that far, a part of him screams out that he’s been waiting for this moment for so long.

So he closes his eyes, breaks the distance between them, and finally brushes his lips against Daniel’s. It was a soft, feathery kiss, and when they pull away, Seongwu manages to smile as he continues the song, _ “—♪ and a kiss from me to you,” _

Daniel smiles back, ever so sweetly that it makes Seongwu’s heart flip-flop in joy. _“♪ Won’t you say you love me, too?”_

Seongwu chuckles at Daniel’s continuation of the song. “But I already did?”

“Well,” Daniel takes Seongwu’s hand into his and grins. “You didn’t say it properly.”

“You’re as childish as ever.” Seongwu sighs, but he indulges the younger in the end. “I love you, too, Kang Daniel.”

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

“Well…I told you we should’ve just picked them up in the morning,” Jaehwan says as he flashes his spotlight towards Seongwu and Daniel, who are currently snuggled up together.

Despite the arrival of their friends, the two made no attempt to get away from each other. Seongwu gives them a single look of acknowledgment and says, “Oh, you guys are here.”

“We tried to get here as soon as we could, but it was hard because of the storm,” Sungwoon explains with an unperturbed face. “I guess there was no need to.”

“Hey, Seongwu-hyung really is injured, though,” says Daniel, who proceeds to tighten his hold on Seongwu’s waist. “By the way, we’re dating now.”

“I would congratulate you on normal circumstances but you’re both slowpokes and it was only a matter of time anyway,” Minhyun remarks, hands on his waist. “Now get up so we could get Seongwu treated at the hospital for whatever injury he has. Then we can all sleep.”

They all turn to Jisung, waiting for him to say anything, but he just shakes his head with his usual _I’m-so-done_ expression. “You’ll hear it from me tomorrow. All I want right now is to go home and rest.”

And with that, Daniel helps Seongwu up, and with so many flashlights around the room, they finally manage to exit the basement without further injuries.

While making their way out of the house, Jaehwan walks toward Seongwu and Daniel and asks, “Who confessed first?”

“Me,” Daniel replies proudly. “Down that haunted basement, where we could be attacked by demonic entities at any second, I gathered my courage and poured out my feelings.”

Seongwu elbows him and laughs. “Don’t be so dramatic. We never even got the chance to begin our ghost hunting. But yes, Jaehwan, he did confess first. I was planning to do it, too, though.”

“But technically, Daniel confessed first, right?” Jaehwan asks again and Seongwu nods. When he finally got satisfied by the response, Jaehwan turns to their friends and yells, “Alright, Minhyun-hyung and I won the bet! You better pay up!”

They hear Jisung and Sungwoon grunt in annoyance, and Daniel turns to Jaehwan in surprise. “What’s this about?”

“Nothing much, my friend,” Jaehwan says with a grin. “Basically, everyone knows you two like each other and we got tired of waiting for you to get together so we made a bet on who would confess first while waiting,” Jaehwan suddenly snaps his fingers as he remembers something. “Oh, and the whole thing about the haunted house is something that we made up.”

“Wait,” Seongwu halts his steps to look at Jaehwan. “What about Mr. Lee’s story?”

“That was Minhyun-hyung’s work of fiction! How naïve are you to believe that a mere bicycle could trigger a ghost to manifest and physically harm people? Like, come on! A bicycle?”

Jaehwan laughs for a while, but he stops after noticing that Seongwu and Daniel are staring at each other with confused looks. “Uhh…what’s wrong?”

“Jaehwan, in that basement, there wasn’t anything. In fact, it was completely empty,” Daniel recalls. “Or so we thought.”

Seongwu adds, “Because when we flashed our light around the room, right there in the other corner….” He pauses for a while and gulps. “…was a bicycle. With the letters L-E-E printed in bold at the saddle.”

Jaehwan’s mouth forms a big ‘O’ as he freezes. After getting over his shock, he looks at Seongwu and Daniel, then he makes a run for it. 

* * *

Back in the basement, Mr. Lee makes a deformed smile as he leans against his bicycle. 

“We’ve created another couple today, Bumbi.”

  
  



End file.
